simplicity

People go into debt to buy bigger homes to hold more stuff that puts them further in debt. It’s an endless cycle. We enslave ourselves to our stuff. I don’t really know what to do about it. I’m guilty of it but I’m getting better. Spending some time reflecting on it (like writing this article) helps when I have the urge to get something new. We’ve enslaved ourselves with the help of advertising and the media, but we can also choose to set ourselves free. Maybe you have enough stuff. It’s worth considering anyway.

I have been a big fan of Leo Babauta for several years now and have said so on this blog. I think his book THE POWER OF LESS is fantastic. He was a big inspiration to me and I think he was a very wise man. He probably still is, but I am beginning to wonder. Lately he has been saying some things that make me go “huh?”.

The amount of anxiety that goes into most decisions is ridiculous. Further, the amount of time people spend making decisions, even the most trivial ones, is a life-wasting shame. Visit your local company meeting for endless examples of how to torture wage slaves with trivial decision making.

Email is an incredible technology and I know very few people who would give it up. I also believe it is completely out of control both at work and at home; for many of us it has become a source of frustration and stress. The question is how do we make effective use of this wonderful tool without letting it take over our time and our lives?

These days there may be no scarce resource more valuable than your attention and no ability more important than being able to focus that attention. Success, however you define it, is dependent upon your ability to focus your attention.

In today’s world of information overload, people move quickly from sound bite to sound bite. To be successful with your message and to avoid be washed away in the sea of noise, you must connect quickly and convey effectively. You must transmit something meaningful in the small window in which you have been granted the benefit of their attention. This is true in face-to-face as well as electronic communication. How many times, even when you are physically present with someone, are they distracted by some electronic device? Failure to connect with someone and convey meaning to them quickly will often lead to failure.

I dream of being lazy, of having all day to just do whatever I feel like at any moment. I dream of being able to do only a few things that don’t take a lot of time, but that matter a great deal – or not. I don’t see anything wrong with wanting to do less. The world is full of energetic and ambitious people being busy but not doing a whole lot that matters. The world is full of active people trying to force their ideas on others. How I wish they would get lazy and shut up.

The argument is basically that organization is inflexible and resistant to new information, changing circumstances, and unexpected events. On the other hand messy systems are flexible and allow more creative connections of apparently unrelated information.

A decisive person understands all this and takes charge making most decisions quickly and with clarity. A decisive person understands the difference between decisions that really make a difference and those that don’t. A decisive person has a lot more time for the important things in their lives and a lot more peace of mind.

Teenagers used to have to be responsible (at least to some degree) and make some decisions for themselves. Now they have to call mommy on their cell phone and get permission or advice for everything. Employees who used to be responsible for decisions, now have to run it by their boss or their colleagues. They have to do this 24 hours a day via technology like email or cell phones, even when they or their boss is on vacation. Couples who used to make independent decisions now email, text, or call each other to discuss trivial decisions. Don’t say it isn’t so because I can hear it going on around me all the time. We are all talking to everyone about everything. Individual decision making and decisiveness have taken a big hit.